Live, Laugh, Pray, Love Mommy

My mother-in-law called me today to let me know that she read an article about teething gel for babies. She advised that the benzocaine in them can cause alarming side effects and may even be fatal. So of course I freaked out. Desi's teething is not as bad as most stories I have heard, so I rarely give him teething gel. However, when she told me this I started to worry if I had harmed him in anyway by giving it to him those times where he really needed it. Once I got off the phone with her, I googled away on teething gels. Click Here  to see what I found. Of course you can review other articles or books at your leisure. Here are some other sites you can check out: http://www.baysidejournal.com/2011/08/fda-recommends-no-teething-gels-for-babies/ http://pediatrics.about.com/od/teething/a/0107_teething.htm Here are some rememdies that could be a great alternative: Frozen waffles (I tried this with Desi and he loved it) Cold washcloth Teething biscuits (Desi loves these) ...

My soul is stirred every time I look at my son. I am sitting here trying to find the words to explain this feeling, but nothing comes to mind. I am so overcome with emotion. He is beautiful. To think that he began as a little seed and blossomed into this beautiful being is breathtaking. Only Jehovah God can do this. I am just in complete awe. This beautiful baby boy is MINE. I carried him and nourished him within my belly. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw that positive sign on that little stick. I waited for him for 9 months and went through pain to get him here. I will never forget when our eyes first met, his tiny hands and feet...and the way he smelled. I will never forget when he first latched on to my breast. His tiny little eyes and nose and the tiny little sound he made as he was drinking mommy's milk...and the way he smelled. I will never forget that. I will always hold that close to my heart. Now he is almost 11 months and all I can do is sit here, eyes welling up ...

I love the bedtime routine we have set out for Desi. He gets his bath and a good rub down. We say a prayer with daddy and we read 2 books. The first book is always "My Book of Bible Stories" and the second book is "The Snuggliest Snuggle in the World." I bought the second book for Desi when I was 3 months pregnant and I just knew and felt that it was going to be his favorite book. Mommy's intuition did not steer her wrong! He loves the book! He really gets into the voices I make for each character, we point out colors and animals. He will turn the page and when the story is over I say, "The end. Okay close the book Desi." He will, then, close the book. I tell him night night and we go over to the light switch. I tell him to turn the light off and he turns the light off. A moon is projected on the wall so we say goodnight to the moon and I turn on the heartbeat sound on the projector. He gives mommy a hug and I put him in his crib. He holds my hand unti...

Did someone just hit the fast forward button on my life? I cannot believe this year is almost over and my baby will be 1 soon! What is that? Can someone just press rewind? Seriously! LOL! I am so not ready for my little baby to grow up. Okay I know he is only turning 1, but I am going to miss my little teeny baby that I could just cuddle without protest. I guess it has to happen some time, huh? It's definitely a bittersweet reality. I am excited to see his growth, but I am going to miss him being solely dependent on mommy. Alright, no more sappy talk. It's been a while since I have blogged. My baby boy is doing all kinds of things now!  Desi will be 11 months on Dec. 7th. He is developing into an adventurous, curious, observant and social little boy. He is not walking just yet, but he pulls up and cruises from one piece of furniture to another. He turns the lights off and on and points to the light when asked. He rubs his belly when asked, "where's your belly?" ...

Okay so I am slowly going back into the working world and I have no complaints. It is time for me to get back to work and it will be good for Desi to learn some independence. I am on a long-term temp assignment for a company I really like. The work I am doing is similar to what I was doing at my previous job, so that's a plus. I interviewed for the opportunity this past Friday and received notification the same day that they wanted me to start on this Monday. I was excited but sad at the same time because I knew that I would not be able to spend my days with Desi anymore. The whole weekend was emotional for me. You would have thought that I was going away and never coming back. When Sunday night rolled around I cried and shared my concerns with my husband. Of course, he reassured me that things would be fine. He brought out a good point. He said eventually somebody is gonna have to leave the other. He said when Desi becomes school age, we will have no choice but to separate. So he ...

Okay, so he said momma a few weeks ago...sue me! LOL! I have been meaning to blog this for a while but I am sure everyone out there in the motherhood knows that "down time" is minimal. Anyway, I just love hearing him say momma. He says it with so much love. Side note: I am definitely aware of the fact that one day I will be saying, "That is not my name right now." (That is what my mother used to tell me whenever I kept nagging her. It was pretty hilarious). Hearing your child say momma is like the second right of passage into mommydom, with the first being the birth of your baby. I feel so priviledged and honored to be this child's mommy. By the way, Desi is 9 months old now and he is starting to do some new silly and cute things. I'll look at Desi and say, "Munchie, give me kissy!" I will pucker my lips and make the kissy sound. He will click his tongue to mimic the sound! It is too cute. He has the biggest smile when he does it. I just love it....

Well, baby boy is finally sleeping soundly in his crib! My husband and I decided to move his crib into our bedroom because Desi's room was just to far for me to feel comfortable with him being in there. It's only temporary, as we will be moving soon. Whatever place we go to next, I want to make sure Desi's room will be right next to ours. Anyway, so now that Desi is in our room, it has been alot easier putting him to sleep in his crib. Of course I have to hold my baby's hand or rub his back in order for him to fall asleep. He is a nursed baby, so he loves the skin to skin contact and, admittedly, I love it too. I am so glad that he is starting to feel comfortable in his crib because my husband and I miss snuggling up together. It's kind of hard to do that when you have a little person in your bed! We do love our joy to be in the bed with us, but he needs to learn to be independent from us at times and my hubby and I need to continue to be a couple. Romance baby!!! ...

Well, I have had a wonderful 8 months with my dear son. Now it is time for me to return to work. I am currently looking for a J-O-B now. It is so funny because I found myself diving into the endless pool of job listings on the web without thinking about the fact that I would need a babysitter before I can obtain a job. I deserve a big slap on the forehead for that one! I surely did not realize how hard it would be to find a suitable and affordable daycare provider for my little bambino. Shoot, I even considered becoming a daycare provider. I could make good money doing that and I wouldn't have to pay for daycare for my son. I am still considering, but maybe for the future. In the meantime, my sister said that she would be more than happy to watch him until I find something more permanent. I was definitely thankful to her for that. Until I find that job though, I will still get to enjoy my days with the little guy. I am really excited to go back to work. Don't get me wrong, I ...

Okay, so maybe I should have done this a long time ago. He sleeps through the night! This may very well be my ticket to getting him to sleep in his own bed. No, he is still not in his own bed. I think I posted something about that a few months ago. It's coming soon though. I am not even gonna put pressure on myself. I got too many other things to think about. Anyway, I put like 1-2 tablespoons of rice cereal in 8 oz of milk and shake that bad boy up (the bottle not the baby) and Desi gulps it down. It also helps because he has been gaining weight. A month ago he had his 6 month check up and the doc said that he needs to gain more in calories. So he suggested I supplement with formula and give him solids. He is now drinking Similac (sensitive tummy) and mommy's milk (happy about that...still a little nipple envy there though). He is not really into solid food anymore because he is teething pretty badly. He is becoming my little cute chunkie monkie! Baby boy is making some stri...

Well, I took baby to the doctor today for his 6 month check-up and shots. He hasn't been gaining enough weight. The doc said to not worry because he makes up for it length-wise. He explained that Desi's height is above the average mark, so that tells him that he is perfectly fine (among many other observations). He advised that he just needs an increase in calories. So, I have to supplement with formula and start him on his solids this month. Obviously I am not producing a full 8 oz of milk (4oz from one breast and 4oz from the other). Because my poor baby has not gained enough weight. I wish that I could provide him wiht all the milk he needs from me, but at this point, I want him to grow so I got to push my feelings aside. He is hitting all milestones, so I know he is healthy. I am on a mission now. Desi has got to gain that weight! I went out and bought Enfamil's Prosoybee (spl?) thinking that would probably be close to what he is getting from me. I gave him some in ...

Okay, so I am pretty new to this blogging thing. I have been wondering why I haven't had any traffic on my blog posts. I was starting to wonder if the whole world thought I was boring! Anyway, I figured it out. My little bambino is 6 months old now! My how time flys! He is at this point where he is really clingy. I can hardly get anything done around the house. I am also having a problem getting him to sleep on his own. I often have to lay down with him and nurse him to sleep. I love nursing, but I would like for him to soothe himself to sleep. I have been given a pleathora of suggestions and have tried them. I really don't like the "cry out" method. Every baby is different and my son cannot handle crying it out. He looks so anxious when I just leave him in his bassinet or crib. I can't just ignore that. I have been reading what others think about it on the web and some say "cry out" is the best way to go. Others say it is cruel or it doesn't work....

Okay, so today started off very well. Me and the little guy visited my sister and her kids. We had a fun day at the pool. It was Desi's first time at the pool and he really enjoyed the water. After that, Desi and I head home and I leave him there with his daddy because I was off to get a massage. One of my dear friends treated me to this AMAZING massage and I tell you, it was just what the doctor ordered! You would think that my mood would be light, right? No, as soon as I get home from my "calgon take me away" session, I am little sad. Maybe it's due to the fact that I didn't get any sleep last night. I kept getting up to check on Desi. I am trying to get him to sleep on his own (my husband and I love for our little one to sleep in the bed with us). He was sleeping in his bassinet so peacefully, but I guess you could say that I was really missing his presence in our bed because I was dead awake! LOL! I kept checking to see if he was going to wake up, and if he ...

I wish I had thought about blogging sooner because I would have had so much information about my new motherhood from birth to present. But it's cool, I'm not going to grow any worry lines over that one. My husband and I had our son, Desmond, on January 7, 2011. He was 5lbs 13oz and 20 inches long. I swear I thought I was looking at myself being born all over again! He looked just like me. My poor husband was so sad that our son didn't look like him. Deep down I was saying, "Shoot, I carried him for 9 months, he better come out looking like some part of me!" Truthfully, I think he is a great combination of his father and myself. Love you hubby! He looks like you baby, don't worry! ;-) So it's been 5 months since I have moved into the motherhood and I feel so welcomed! My son (I call him Desi, Desi Pooh, Desi-kins, Gummi Bear...oh you get the point, right?) is so beautiful and he is growing so fast. I cleared out all of his newborn clothing around his 3 ...